October 23, 1942 – Going to go AWOL ! ? !

Friday Evening

Dear Mom + Dad,

Another day of my life in the army is almost as a close. It gets after while so that one day is just like another. You go through the same boring routine. Eat work and go to bed. I guess I need a little change from my present environment. I’m off this weekend and don’t have to work. I can’t get a pass however. I’ve just about made up my mind to take a few days (weekend) off on my own. I can get away with it very easily. You see I can go so far in this army and after being in for a length of time you get to know just how far you can go. I’m certain that I can get away with it. I don’t have to worry to much anyway as I’ll be out of this outfit soon. So I can mess up without hurting myself at all. However the odds are 100 to 1 that I will get caught. So I think I’ll take the change and spend a weekend in Palm Springs I know I shouldn’t tell you things like this but I’d rather you know just what I do so there it is. I make take off and I may not. I haven’t definitely made up my mind yet.

I get rather tired after my days work. I don’t have to work hard except I work for 2 officers who are hard to get along with. If it wasn’t only writing my own finish, I’d tell them where to get off. You can’t do that in the army. You have to take it. That’s one bad feature, if in civilian life you didn’t like a job or the man you worked for, you could quit. But not in the army. It’s things like that, that get on my nerves and that makes your work all the harder. Oh well, I’ve always been able to take care of it and now is no exception. I’m afraid this has been a rather griping letter but then I had to get it off my chest. So please forgive it.

I have no chance for a furlough here and that rather disappoints me. I thought maybe going on the detached service I could get one but there is no chance for us. Another thing I have to take.

I’d better quit before I get to involved. I’ll write again tomorrow and I’m sure it will be in a better vain. This is just one of those days.

Love
Bobby